5 Questions for Domenica Personti, Program Manager

5 Questions is our staff spotlight feature where we introduce you to the people who make BCCS run.

Name: Domenica Personti 

Job: Program Manager, Lancaster Center

Time with BCCS: 4 years

1. Tell us what you do at Brandywine.

I was recently promoted to Program Manager at the Lancaster site. I do a lot of trainings for the staff, supervise the Perinatal program, the NSAFE program, the Core department, as well as all the support services, Anger Management, Partial, and IOP.

This position still allows me to do front line work. I still have the opportunity to meet and talk with clients on a daily basis. I want to make sure that I am available to them. Recently, I set up a “sound-off” for clients, twice a day every Tuesday for the whole month of October. Anyone who wants to can come and sit with me, and just have a conversation about things that they like, and things that they want to change, and things that they think we are doing well. Hearing what the clients have to say is really important to me.

My biggest challenge is probably slowing myself down. I would like to just do everything, like, tomorrow! And I’m constantly working on me, to slow down and look at things realistically. It’s challenging for me to not be spontaneous, especially when you see this great vision that we have. I see Brandywine with this great vision, so it’s exciting, and sometimes it’s hard to slow yourself down and work through it.

2. Anger Management and Partial Hospitalization are some of the new programs you’ve introduced at Brandywine. Tell us about these programs and why they were introduced.

We offer Anger Management in a one day, eight hour course on Fridays and/or Saturdays. It made sense to do it here, to make it an affordable and allow the clients to “one stop shop,” like we do everything else at Brandywine. It provides easier access. They’re right here. They can take it here. It’s also open to the public. Anyone can come and take it, but originally, it made sense for our clients.

Partial Hospitalization is for our clients who are having a little bit of difficulty at our other levels of care. So when we see that they’re struggling and need a little bit more intensive treatment, we can refer them to our Partial program. That runs 7 AM to 1:30, Monday through Friday. It includes education and group therapy sessions. They get a half an hour to 45 minute lunch. So it’s kind of like school, so to speak.

3. You’ve also been very involved in addressing the educational needs of Brandywine staff. How important is ongoing training to the services our staff provides?

This is so important. Our field shifts and changes so often, that we have to be up to speed as to what new treatment modalities are out there, and what new tools we can use to treat our clients. I feel like it’s such an important tool that the staff need, as well, if we can constantly keep them fresh, even if it’s retraining in certain areas.

I want the staff to be cross trained, so that everyone can work in any aspect of treatment here at Brandywine. My vision is for all staff to be able to work in multiple areas, fill in when needed and be true team players. For example, anyone can do intake, and everyone understands and knows what NSAFE does. So if an NSAFE client doesn’t have access to a case manager right away, one of the Core counselors should be able to meet with that client, and at least occupy them and help them a little bit until their primary is available. This will improve the quality of our care, and we will treat the clients better. I think that’s all part of training.

Education is so, so, so important now. When I came into the field, you just had to have an Associates degree. That was in ’99. Now, there’s such a focus on education, as well there should be. The day I stop learning, I’m really not any good to anyone else, and I believe that. That’s why I’m still in school. I just try and push education, absolutely. You can’t really do a whole lot without that anymore.

4. Tell us your favorite client success story.

I had a client that I worked with as support for the counselor, when I was a supervisor. When I met him, [he] had just went through a pretty bad relapse, had been using for about 10 months. I met with him pretty often for a good 3 or 4 months, got him linked up with a lot of support services that he needed. He ended up going to school for ten weeks, got a skill certification, and then got a union job, and he’s now a 13 day client [with 3 years clean and twice a month pickups.] So that’s a pretty awesome success story. And I still see him pretty often and I still look and see how he’s doing, so that’s a good feeling.

5. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCCS, what would you do with it?

I would do criminal re-entry, absolutely, without a doubt. I went into this field when I was 19 years old, gaining my first experiences working at Gander Hill Prison and with AmeriCorps. We went into the prison and did a project based around vocational rehab, and how it benefits people who are at risk for substance abuse and incarceration, due to any kind of history of crime. While I was there, I was exposed to so many intelligent people who had just fallen into the wrong crowd, or used drugs at a young age, and I was amazed at the level of intelligence a lot of them had, and their current situation kind of held them back.

I would take $30,000 and I would do a criminal re-entry program, and I would help the offenders coming out of prison before they even got out. Case management services for the couple weeks before they get out, and then assist them with housing, employment, and record expungement. That’s a really big deal. I think that’s one of the biggest hindrances that our clients who have criminal history have, in getting employment. So that would be, without a doubt, what I would do with it.

5 Questions for Matt Friedman, Executive Assistant

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member with each installment. After interviewing about three dozen staff members over the last two years, I figured it was time to turn the spotlight on myself.

Name: Matt Friedman
Job: Assistant to the Executive Director
Time with BCI: 8 years


1. Tell us what you do at BCI.
My title is Executive Assistant, but I like to tell people I’m the fundraising and communications guy. So that means I write the grants, as well as our newsletter, and content for our Web site, and of course this blog. I’m also responsible for donor relations, and I do a lot of our volunteer recruitment. Then I also do some data collection to monitor how we’re doing at getting people in the door and keeping them engaged once they’re here. And, I do some behind the scenes stuff in meetings with our management team, work with our Board of Directors, and do some internal communications for the rest of our staff. So, I really wear a lot of hats. I like the variety and there’s always something to keep me busy!

2. Why did you decide to work in addiction treatment?
A lot of the staff I’ve interviewed for this series have said it wasn’t something they planned, and that’s true for me too. It was a big change from my original field of engineering. I had kind of stumbled into grant writing, just out of school and working for a research and development company. I found I didn’t make such a great engineer, but I made a pretty good grant writer. And at the same time, I was doing some volunteer work mentoring kids, which I really enjoyed. So eventually I put two and two together and decided I should go work for a nonprofit.

I wanted to work for a kids’ organization at first, but I expanded my search, because it’s hard to break into the non-profit field, especially in a role like this, which is so specialized. So when the opportunity came up with BCI, I had to consider it in spite of being new to addiction. I’m a lifelong Delawarean, and I knew nothing about the extent of the problem and the need for the services BCI provides. I talked a little in a recent post about the biases I came in with, and what a leap of faith it was to be able to see myself doing this kind of work. But luckily, I did make that leap, and that was nearly 8 years ago. I think it’s been what I was looking for, in terms of being able to put many different skills to use, and also have that sense of satisfaction, knowing you’re helping change lives right here in your own community.

As someone who’s made the transition from the for-profit to the non-profit arena, I can tell you while it’s not easy to get your foot in the door, if it’s what you really want to do, you should go for it. If you’re coming from a different field like I did, you have to show that your skills are transferable. Things like writing, organizational skills, creativity. Along with that, just show you have a real desire to work for a service organization. Definitely volunteer, or intern if you can, to get a feel for the day to day flow and decide if it’s right for you. So, be persistent, sell your strengths, and know what you want to get out of it.

3. What would people be surprised to know about your job?
That I’m probably the least knowledgeable about addiction of anyone here, even with all I’ve learned over the years. I don’t have a clinical background, so I rely a lot on my coworkers to explain the nuts and bolts of things to me. And I have picked up a lot, but I’ll still give people a blank look when they start talking about IOP’s, and UTO’s, and CRF’s. I know enough to do my job. But every grant we write is really a team effort.

Sometimes having an “outsider” perspective works to my advantage. When I’m explaining a concept in a grant, I’m making sure I can understand it myself. And when I’m writing an article, too, I can approach it as someone outside the organization would. That’s become a little harder over time as I’ve become more of an insider, but in general it still surprises me to hear the realities of daily life for our clients, and their experience going through the channels to get help.

4. Tell us your favorite client success story.
I don’t think I could pick a favorite story. Every time I get to interview a client and tell their story, it’s very rewarding for me. I think I enjoy that part of my job the most. It’s a responsibility I take seriously. It takes courage whenever someone decides to share their story, so I want to honor the realness of what they tell me, but also package it in a way that will resonate with the reader. I really consider it a privilege to be a messenger of life-affirming stories. There are so many here at BCI, and the more we tell, the more I think the public will relate to what we do and see its value.

The story I just did, A Life Saved by Inches, was incredible, mainly because of how close the person was to being dead, and because he survived, he got the chance to get help, and ultimately a new lease on life. But what was also great about that story was, I didn’t even know before I did the interview, that he came to us through our brand-new hospital outreach program. I had set out to highlight the co-occurring disorders therapy at our outpatient program, how this had helped the client work through mental illness, and the work his counselor did with him. But it was an added bonus to be able to mention the Christiana Care project, and the work of the outreach worker, and show that was a success. So it ended up being a wonderful human story, but also a real-life example of a continuum of care. We had someone go from the emergency room to our door, and to successful completion of the program.

5. You can tell a lot about a person from their office. Tell us what you have in your office.
My office is neat and uncluttered. I’m very organized and try to keep only what I absolutely need. Sometimes people give me things to store, which kind of throws a wrench into that approach. I have two tripods, for instance. Anyone need a tripod?

I’m not that good of a decorator, so I have a lot of room on the walls I don’t know what to do with. I have two of Dr. Glick’s travel photos that I won at one of our silent auctions a few years ago. I have plants, because I have two windows and they do well here. I have my rug to add a splash of color. I have some song lyrics on my wall dealing with addiction. One is Neil Young’s “The Needle and the Damage Done,” and the other is “My Old Addiction,” which was written by David Wilcox and covered by k.d. lang. I put those up when I first started here, because I was new to addiction and the best way to understand it was through music. Knowing what I know now, I’ve found those two songs are still a pretty accurate picture of reality.

And then on my bookcase, I have some trays from the post office for next time we do a mailing, some books on fundraising, lots of binders from trainings I’ve been to, and some souvenirs from all our NIATx work – baseball cap, coffee mug, Swiss cheese pencil topper. That’s from Wisconsin!

5 Questions for Lynn Fahey, Executive Director

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Lynn Fahey
Job: Executive Director
Time with BCI: 16 years


1. Lynn, congratulations on becoming BCI’s new Executive Director. Tell us how you got your start in addiction treatment, and how you got to where you are today.
It’s funny, I kind of fell into addiction treatment. Coming out of college, all I knew was I wanted to help people. I applied to a couple of different non-profit organizations, and was offered a position at Brandywine, took it, and pretty much fell in love with addictions counseling. I started off as a Core Counselor. Cindy Lobis hired me, and Janice [Sneed] was the Clinical Director. Brandywine was one building. There were 30-35 employees at the time. I worked there for about two and a half years. I left and worked in the mental health field for about two years, and came back to Brandywine in the adolescent department.

The reason I came back to Brandywine was because of the organization. I think a lot of it had to do with Sally and the environment she created here. I actually took a cut in pay to come back to Brandywine, because the atmosphere and the supportive environment was more important to me than the money. The ability to focus on the treatment and care we provide, and the compassionate side of what is still a business, and that compassion and care extended not just to the clients, but to staff as well. So, to be able to help people, and to be able to grow as a person at the same time, I thought was an extraordinary opportunity, and something that I just wanted to continue to do.

And then I went back to school, got my certification, worked in the adolescent unit, then worked in the women’s department, eventually ran the women’s department. When Brandywine continued to grow and get bigger, I took on more and more responsibilities, and eventually became Site Director. I was moved around from Riverfront to Alpha, wherever I was needed. When [we started] Alpha, we only had two counselors, and maybe thirty clients in the drug free program at Brandywine, and of course since then, it’s been expanded to over 300 clients, and lots of staff. And from there, I worked closely with Sally and everyone else. Learned a lot. Went back to school again, got my doctorate in administrative, because by that point, I’m realizing that I’m more and more in administrative, and less in the clinical end, and knew that could be very beneficial to myself and Brandywine.

2. Tell us about your plans for Brandywine. What challenges are ahead and how will you approach them?
It’s all very exciting. [I’m looking forward to] working with everybody in the organization to take Brandywine to the next level. As far as the organization’s mission, just expanding that a little bit, to verbally include things we’re already doing, like our HIV services, mental health, and co-occurring treatment.

What Sally’s managed to do with this organization is nothing short of extraordinary. So, to take it and continue to grow and look towards the future, and what’s coming in the field, and being a viable, sustainable company that continues to provide the best services available to our clients, is very, very exciting. What has been said to me, even by Sally, is, I’m not Sally. So, to say that there won’t be change, wouldn’t be realistic. To say that I want to change the culture of Brandywine, is not what I want to do. I want to expand and change some of the services we provide to our clients. Those are the types of changes that I would focus on.

To state the obvious, [our biggest challenge is] the financial situation that the state of Delaware, and obviously, the country at large, finds itself in. When I talk about expansion of services, it’s all contingent upon obtaining additional funds, so there may be some really tough decisions coming about where to maintain our focus. Some of the goals that we have may end up being more long-term than short-term. I would love to see us create programs, or come up with plans for programs that we want, and look for funding to fit those programs. That might mean being more selective about what funds we go for, too.

3. What would you like to say to our clients?
I want to reassure them that the high quality care that they’re getting will continue. And that, as always, I welcome constructive suggestions on how we can improve. If they’re noticing things that are lacking, or not quite working, I would want to hear that in a way that provides solutions to those issues. I’m going to try, in the next couple of months, to make myself available to them. Maybe I’ll come into some groups in the different locations, or have a town hall meeting in each location, so they can speak, and meet me directly. I know a lot of the clients know me, but a lot don’t, so I think it’s important for them to know who I am and what I’m about, and to hear it directly from me, in person.

4. What’s been rewarding to you about working at BCI?
When I get a call from a client I worked with, years and years ago, and they tell me that they’re doing well. They mention the counseling they received from Brandywine, but just to hear that people are changing and growing, and creating better lives for themselves and their families, is why we’re all here. So, to hear those stories, and hear from recovering people, and know that we’ve been able to make a difference in their lives.

When I worked with the women and children’s program, we had an individual come in on a Friday afternoon at 3:00. She was pregnant, homeless, some health issues. Unfortunately, she was prostituting. Heroin, cocaine, relationship issues, mental health issues. She came in, basically, with most of the issues that someone can have, suffering with addiction. And I was able watch her, in the program, get into sobriety, and give birth to a healthy, beautiful, gorgeous baby girl. And she went back to school, because she didn’t have a high school education. Just the transformation, physically, mentally, spiritually, that this woman went through. Watching it happen, and then watching the way she was able to parent her child, was very exciting.

5. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCI, what would you do with it?
There’s so many important things. I think I might focus on developing a parenting curriculum that targets the parents and the children, so that I would be able to train the staff appropriately in an evidence-based practice, that would impact and break the cycle of addiction, and the generational issues that addiction has. It’s sad when you see individuals come in and they report that mom and dad had an addiction issue, and they were raised in an abusive home, and grandma and grandpa had an addiction issue. Some of our clients aren’t here for extended periods of time, and if we can get to their children, then maybe we can plant a seed that will help them take a different direction in life, and obviously help the parents become better parents as well. So to me, taking that $30,000, and utilizing it that way, has the potential to have a magnifying or rippling effect in the community, and with our clients.

5 Questions for Sally Allshouse, Executive Director

5 questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Sally Allshouse
Job: Executive Director
Time with BCI: 21 years

1. You’re retiring at the end of June after a long and distinguished career in addiction treatment. How did you get started in the field?
It was sort of like a coincidence. I student taught in 1969 at Forwood Elementary School. And I ran into the woman who I taught under, at a department store where I was working, and she asked, “Why are you working here?” And [she] had a friend, Rev. Richard Hamilton, who had just been appointed by the Governor to start drug abuse services in the state of Delaware – because before then, there wasn’t any, it was only alcohol services – and she hooked me up with an interview with him. And I was one of the first outreach workers in the State of Delaware back then. So that was 1970.

2. What would people be surprised to know about your job?
One, I love it. That I do know about the clients, still. I do, through incident reports and through talking to the site supervisors, still get very involved with client issues. Every day’s different. There is no typical day. The biggest challenge over the years has been to keep my stress level down, not to prejudge things, try to be fair about situations, and keep a fresh look at what we do and how we do it. I dislike hearing, “That’s the way we do it.” And to me, that’s important, to be able to keep looking at things in a fresh way.

3. What advice do you have for someone who would like to do the job you do?
A student intern, maybe 5 or 6 years ago, asked me that question, and my response to her was that she should learn how to juggle. And I think that’s true. You need to be able to have more than one ball in the air. You need to be able to realize that everything you do is connected, so if you drop one, they could affect the whole organization. So someone needs to be able to think on their toes, and remain calm, and try and get a perspective about what’s going on.

4. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCI, what would you do with it?
You know, there’s so many areas. And I’ve read what people have said to you about what they would do. I would really like a fund established for the kids. There are so many children that are affected by this disease. They stand in line with their parents, or we see them in our outreach, and we see them in all the programs. We have people who are generational here, whose parents were here, and now they’re here. And if we could do something in the prevention area for those kids, I think that would be wonderful.

5. What are you most proud of in your time at Brandywine?
So many things. Services for women, and their children. That’s always been a priority to me. And outreach, I think. Doing our outreach has been very valuable. There’s been a couple of clients that I’ve been really proud of, that have gone from being clients [to being employees.] Someone who served on our board for awhile and then became an employee, I think he’s a great success. Clients who have gone from entry into our medication-assisted programs, all the way to Newark and just coming in monthly. I think there have been great successes for that.

5 Questions for Sylvie Martin, Family Therapist

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Sylvie Martin
Job: Family Therapist, Alpha Outpatient Program
Time with BCI: 3 years

1. What does a Family Therapist do, and why did you get into this work?
Everybody at BCI that needs to do some family work or couple work, or even therapy, they’re referred to me, and I try to help them out in their recovery. I do believe that the family is a very important component of recovery. We all need someone. We all need to feel connected.

I used to work at Rockford Center as a psychiatric social worker some years ago, and most of the population was suffering from co-occurring disorders. It was upsetting to me that they would treat only the mental health, when the addiction part has such a big role to play. And so I thought, if you want to help somebody in that situation, you need to work on the two fronts. One is not sufficient. I don’t care which one. And it’s personal too; I grew up in a family with addiction. So I got my certificate in drug and alcohol, and then after that went for the [Family Therapy] license.

I love doing it. When I say where I work, people say, “I’m so sorry!” They tend to feel bad for me! So I always retort back, “I love it! You don’t understand, I love it!” There’s still a lot of social stigma regarding people with addiction. You always hear, “That’s the bum, that’s the criminal, that’s a second hand citizen.” So I always have to retort back to them, “Don’t feel sorry for me, I’m really happy that I’ve got this job!” To me, this is a gift. I come here, it’s a gift! I just love what I do.

2. What are the benefits of including your family in your addiction treatment?
I think it’s an important part of the treatment, if not vital. Because at the end of the day, we all need family. We all come from somebody and need to go back to somebody. And sometimes I say to people, none of us want to die alone. I don’t care if it’s the most shy, reserved person, or some consider themselves hermits, at the end of the day, we all want to have somebody by our side. And I think that they’re an important part of the treatment. Sometimes, they’re a deterrent to the treatment. Sometimes I find, I have to help the family, because they are the provoker or the enabler. They’re not helping, sometimes they’re even the trigger. I think it’s important to understand the person in their home environment.

I run group at Wilmington Hospital, where I work [full time] as a psychiatric social worker, and yesterday, I was showing them: “This is you, the first circle here, and then this is your family, and then this is your friends, the society at large.” So I really believe you need to be connected, it’s a vital part to be connected with your family. And I love doing that work, because too often you hear that it’s the person in addiction who had estranged themselves from the family, but the family sometimes is playing a big role, too.

3. What kinds of issues do you help your clients with in their family sessions?
Most, I would say, communication. It’s so funny, you would think it’s so basic. But sometimes, I do active listening, kind of a little lab. Because people are not listening to each other at all. So sometimes, when I first meet with them, I will make them stop and say, “Okay, you’re the one that talks and this is how you’re received.” I help people reflect back. Start with that, but it becomes a lot bigger than that.

I also do a lot about intimacy, believe it or not. Helping people understand that intimacy’s part of being a couple, and it’s way bigger than the action between the sheets. And how to reconnect back, because I’m really a big believer in connectedness between people. I help them with reconnecting, with a kind of joint exercise.

I just had this couple that I’ll see tonight - a big, big dude! I first saw him, and he was like – ohhh, really angry! And I met him the first time by himself, because he “wanted to talk to me…” Then at the second session with his wife, he was, “Oh, blah blah blah blah…” And at the end of the second session, I was saying, “I want you to do something together. What would you enjoy?” And he turned to her and he said, “Can you come with me and take a walk?” Like he was a little boy! And he’s like a big, big man! But he wanted his wife to walk the dog with him, and she wanted for him to cook. So we agreed that next time, you need to do this. This is your homework you’re gonna do.

4. What is your biggest challenge in doing your job?
I think it’s to get them to the door the first time. If I get a new referral, if they don’t come the first time, if I don’t have a face to face with them, then it gets easy to lose them, and they end up not ever engaging. Even if they’re very hesitant about it, and they’re afraid of the word “therapist,” or “family therapist,” bring them to me face to face. Usually, if I meet somebody, I have a better chance for them to come. If you refer somebody, I should set my eyes on them. So that I can, in a hook - and I don’t use it in a bad way! - but I mean, hooking the person, make them understand I’m a very personable person!

5. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCI what would you do with it?
I would put it toward the family services. I think that would be the thing I would wish for you guys, to have a family therapist full time. I only have 8 hours [a week] and it’s not enough, I do what I can. And, train everybody here, to do a little bit of family work, to get themselves interested. [Which we’ve started to do.] And I love it! That’s why I came for the inservice, and now they’re thinking about that. A good program should include family services.

5 Questions for Cheryl Ervin-Edwards, Counselor/Case Manager

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Cheryl Ervin-Edwards
Job: Counselor/Case Manager, NSAFE
Time with BCI: 2 years


1. What brought you to the addictions field and to your present job at BCI?
I am a recovering addict myself. With God’s will, September 17, I’ll have 15 years of sobriety. I started working in the field in 2002 up in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was inpatient, so this is my very first time working in an outpatient facility. Working in that inpatient facility helped me to realize this is where I need to be. This is my niche in life.

When I first got hired at Brandywine Counseling and started working in the Drug Diversion program, I was the court liaison. I was a drug and alcohol counselor, and my job entailed going to court on a weekly basis to present reports to the judge as to what the client’s progress was in the program.

Then in February of 2009, I moved over to the NSAFE program and I am now a case manager here. In that position I do outside community referrals for clients that need special services, such as dental, eye care, food closet, and things of that nature. A typical day is receiving phone calls from clients, assisting clients with getting food from the NSAFE food closet, or assisting my supervisor or my co-workers with some things, because I am new in this position, so I’m just acclimating my way into the NSAFE program right now.

2. How is the economy affecting your clients right now?
Working in this capacity here, there are people that need assistance with their utilities, with food. Because if they do manage to pay their utilities based on the income that they’re receiving within that household unit, they don’t have enough to provide food for their families. Or for themselves, because it could be just single people. And they don’t have enough money to buy food and clothing for themselves. With this tough economy here, whoo! It’s rough. We keep our food closet at NSAFE pretty well stocked, and if we don’t have everything here that they can utilize as far as nutritional items, we refer them to outside community agencies so that they can receive food.

3. What is your biggest challenge in doing your job?
Being limited with resources. That’s the biggest challenge, because if we don’t have the resources, say for instance, if we run out of food, if we call out to an outside agency, a lot of times the agencies do not have funding where they can supply food for our clients. So that’s the biggest challenge here, having to make the phone calls, and being discouraged because you may make several phone calls to different agencies, and you get the same reply. “We don’t have any funding.” But when that happens, they can always give us somewhere else to call, and we eventually find somebody who can help.

4. Last month, the Division of Public Health reported Delaware now has fewer new HIV infections and more HIV tests being done. What’s your reaction to this news?
I think that’s a good thing, and I think a lot of that has to do with the Safety Net program we have, and the Needle Exchange that we have within Brandywine Counseling. Education is the key to having a decrease in AIDS or HIV, being educated about it from every angle. There’s a lot of people in this program that contracted HIV through intravenous drug use. And with the needle exchange and Safety Net program and NSAFE program working together and educating the people and letting them know that there’s a better way to life, I think that’s a good thing.

This Monday we had a training over at the Safety Net program where the nursing staff, Chris Zebley and Joyce [Bunkley] -- they are part of Christiana Care -- they conducted a training session for NSAFE to educate us as to how we can better educate the clients for safer sex practices. And if they’re going to continue with their drug use, they don’t have to use the same needles, they don’t have to share needles with people that may possibly be infected with HIV or AIDS or put themselves at high risk like that.

5. What would people be surprised to know about your job?
We are very compassionate, and we do everything that we could possibly do to assist people in living productive lives in the community. They think that it’s just about coming here, getting food, getting referrals, and things of that nature, [but] we also give them the option to sit here, to talk about situations, or problems that they may have. So it’s not just about them coming in and out. And we do not just only service the NSAFE clients, we also service the Core clients, because if some of the Core counselors have clients that are short on food, they refer their clients over here to NSAFE and we assist them as well.

5 Questions for Threasa Brittingham, Resident Manager

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Threasa Brittingham
Job: Resident Manager, Lighthouse Program
Time with BCI: 1 year


1. What’s your job at BCI?
I do everything! I try to guide the women in their daily task of taking care of their children, getting them on a schedule, just trying to get them to have a consistent schedule so they have a routine in their life. Sometimes they need to talk, they can talk to me, pull me aside. I’m constantly on the phone -- every doctor’s office, every court, every division of child support -- we are constantly on the phone! That’s basically what I do.

I usually work in the morning. I come in, I join in the morning meeting with the ladies. Sometimes I attend their groups. If they have an appointment, I usually take them to their appointment. Or I might have to go out and pick up needs for the house. I usually go over to lunch with them. Then in the afternoon, I usually do their afternoon groups with them also. I sit in, but also try to participate, especially when it’s parenting.

2. What made you want to do this kind of work?
I kind of stumbled across the job in the newspaper. I had been a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) for years, liked it but didn’t love it, and decided to try something new.

3. What would people be surprised to know about your job?
We probably know our clients more than their counselors do, because they spend a few hours a week with their counselors, but they’re spending 24 hours a day with the residential manager. So when thoughts and feelings come up, we’re always available to talk to, where maybe their counselor isn’t. With all the different personalities, we have changes constantly. So we know them very well, and our counselors appreciate us for that. They take our feedback very seriously.

4. Tell us your favorite client success story.
There’s one client -- and she actually left the program early. She had been in treatment before. And I saw her last week. She has, on loan, a new car. She’s gotten custody back of one of her children. She goes to school. She’s just doing awesome. So, seeing her lets me know that treatment does work.

5. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCI, what would you do with it?
Put in a second story on this house! I wish that we could help more than ten women. I wish that everybody wanted the help, and I wish we had a 100% success rate.

5 Questions for Tom Bell, Outreach Worker

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Tom Bell
Job: Outreach Worker, HIV Prevention and Needle Exchange
Time with BCI: 7 years

1. What’s your job at BCI and what do you enjoy about it?
I’m a member of the team doing outreach and needle exchange. The mission is to help reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, targeting injecting drug users, and then also offer harm reduction education and information. We’re out there in the community 4 days a week, which is Tuesday-Friday. We also do HIV rapid testing on that van. It’s totally confidential. And one doesn’t have to be in the needle exchange program to receive testing, one can just come on, get an HIV test. If they need referrals, then we’ll make those as well, give them help wherever we can. Also pass out condoms, to help slow down the spread of STDs. Right now we’re trying out a new pilot program. It's called the LINK program, and we offer some incentive, as far as introducing drug-injecting people to the program.

And I kind of like it, because it’s out there helping the community and trying to change their thinking. We understand most people will do what they’re gonna do, but not being knowledgeable of what they’re doing. [So] we try some education in that area, because we know that we can’t stop folks from doing what they do. I like doing it, because I myself was drug dependent at one time. I went through an organization, and aftercare, and a 12 Step program to get my life back, and change my mindset, and become a productive member of society. So we try to instill hope in them that they don’t always have to live like this.

2. The Delaware Division of Public Health announced recently there are now fewer new HIV infections in the state and more HIV tests being done, thanks in part to the needle exchange. What’s your reaction to this news? Do you think progress is being made?
Yes I do. My take on that is, the word is spreading, and it’s a plus.

3. What would people be surprised to know about your job?
It’s not just drug and alcohol related; we help out wherever we can. We help with clothing, food, shelter, referrals, whatever way we can help. I can remember the times when I was drug dependent, and I was just wishing and hoping someone could just help, just not knowing where to go or how to ask for help. And now with this outreach program, we’re out there meeting folks just where they’re at, so some of the things they might not want to ask, or don’t have the courage at that time, or maybe they think it’s gonna take too much time, we’re there to step in and kind of reevaluate their thinking.

4. What’s the fun part of your job?
(Laughs) You say the fun part… Being in this field, the fun part is in the beginning. Maybe meeting someone for the first time, and they don’t really like you, because sometimes you have to be stern and practice a little tough love at some point. But the gratitude is when you see them later on down the line, and they have changed their mindset, and [are] starting to do different things, starting to become a productive member of society, not so much drug dependent, and starting to get their life back together. That’s the joy, you know, that’s the reward, in all. And I love that.

And then, I also have those same individuals come up to me later on, maybe a month or a year later, and say, “Why, thank you. Thank you for being there, thank you for puttin’ up with all that you put up with.” And I in turn say, “You’re welcome, and thank you for puttin’ up with all that you put up with.” (Laughs) So, that’s the fun part.

5. Since you joined the Outreach team, you’ve been working side by side with your wife. What’s that like?
(Laughs) Well, actually, it’s good and it’s bad, you know, to be honest. Because I, too, have to have an outlet. And, like I stated, I was drug dependent, and I attend a 12 Step program, and sometimes I have to talk about some of the things that go on with me working with my wife… And I’m grateful to be able to work with her, because I didn’t have the opportunity [before]. We were in the same field, but different areas, different times, so I didn’t get a chance to spend as much time like I do now.

She’s been in the outreach program [longer], and she knows more than I know in the outreach area, and so I’m humbly taking my stand. And sometimes it gets frustrating when she has to be stern, and then sometimes I don’t like it… But I understand that it’s for the best for the program and the organization, and I keep an open mind. And it’s actually good. We have our bad times, but it’s more good times than bad. I think that it could work. It’s life!

5 Questions for Jennifer Rossiter, Assessor

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Jennifer Rossiter
Job: Assessor, Probation and Parole/Alpha Program, New Castle Center
Time with BCI: 9 years

1. Tell us about the relationship between the BCI assessors and the probation officers. What benefits are there to being located at the same site?
I think the relationship’s great. I love working with probation officers. The benefit is, they have instant access to us. They can have a walk-in. Let’s say a client has missed an appointment because the client was working, and they come in for report day. The P.O. can come and say, “Hey, listen, this guy is working. He can’t make it any other time. Can you see him today?” And sometimes it can be right then, or we’ll see them in an hour, so that’s really an advantage for the client.

The probation officer has instant access to our recommendation, and a lot of times, they’ll stop in, [and] ask me about different drug effects. Actually, yesterday, somebody was suicidal, and one of the P.O.’s came down and asked me to go talk to the person. They might ask about meetings, they might ask about resources. So I think it’s great for the probation officers, because we’re here, and if they have a question, we can answer it as quickly as we can for them. And for the client - they don’t have to go running around town. They can see their probation officer, and come right to us, instead of having to try to get transportation - if they have a drug charge they usually lose their license - so it makes it easier for them, too.

2. Why did you decide to work in addiction treatment?
My life’s given me the opportunity to have a lot of experiences that can relate to other people. And I noticed that throughout most my life, people come up and tell me their life stories. They tell me their problems, things like that. And I figured I ought to start getting paid for it. (Laughs) And then I decided that, I got in the field and I was gonna save the world. I found out that you can’t save the world, but you can help some people save themselves. And I like that.

3. What would people be surprised to know about your job?
Sometimes we deal with people who don’t have an addiction problem. Or they may be social users of alcohol, and something happened and they broke a law and they ended up in the criminal justice system. We may be the only people in the addictions field that they encounter. And they don’t want to be here, they “know” they don’t have a problem, maybe they just made a really bad decision and they got in trouble with the law. So here they are, they’re told they have to go have this assessment, to see if they have an addiction or some kind of problem - so that in itself has got to be very uncomfortable. And sometimes the client or consumer is very uncomfortable when they come in. We may be only connection they have with the addictions field. And somebody might say, “Well, yeah, you’re in Probation and Parole, they all have an addictions problem.” No, they don’t. And that might surprise a lot of people.

4. Tell us your favorite client success story.
It was a while ago, and it was back when the “three time loser law” was actually in effect. This person was looking at a life sentence, and he was involved in treatment. He had a history of dealing drugs, and possession. And because he was involved in treatment, the judge gave him a break. A couple years later, he found me and asked me to go to an NA anniversary meeting of his. And in the meeting, he said that he wanted to thank a counselor that hadn’t given up on him. And as far as I know, he’s now a minister of a very active congregation. That was very rewarding, because he didn’t give up on himself.

5. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCI what would you do with it?
I have a pretty strong feeling about this one. I would donate it to educational resources to start training more counselors to deal with men who have been abused sexually. Other than - is Brenda still in the basement? Okay, I’d give some money to get her an office! (Laughs)

I was a clinical supervisor and provided service at a men’s halfway house many years ago. And this isn’t a scientific study, and it’s only a guess, but my guess would be, at least 80% of the men who landed in the halfway house - which means they had usually several episodes of treatment unsuccessfully - have been sexually abused. And I think they carry a lot of pain that goes along with addictions, and I don’t really think it’s been addressed yet, the way it should be, and needs to be, for the whole society.

5 Questions for Ilian Bustos, Hispanic Program Counselor

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Ilian Bustos
Job: Counselor, Hispanic Program, Lancaster Center
Time with BCI: 2 years

1. Why did you decide to work in addiction treatment?
The most important thing for me is to help people, to make a difference, to give them a chance to change their lives. It’s not our job just to listen to the client, but also to analyze and help them find solutions. You can’t change the life that another person has, but at least you can make a little change for them, with groups, or through talking, even from the time that they meet you.

2. Aside from language, what special needs do your Hispanic clients have when they come to us for treatment?
Most of the people that come here feel that they are fighting with the world, and sometimes they don’t feel accepted in the world. The challenge for me is to let them understand what they need to ask of themselves, in order to be able to find another way to help them. This way, we can help them to find another way to see their lives, and especially to feel needed in this world. [My biggest challenge is] to find a way to send a message to a client, and it doesn’t matter if it’s in Spanish or English, it’s really a challenge to find that gate that’s open, just to get the message out and try to do something different.

3. Tell us about the group you run.
This group is every Tuesday at 6:00, and it’s just for Spanish-speaking [clients]. I have people who are on the Drug Diversion program, Core division, and also Intake. I think the most valuable thing during my group is that I allow the people to talk. I use that to help them realize difficult aspects of their lives, especially their needs. I think the most important part is that they feel that they bond with the same culture and the same ideas, and I think that helps them to understand their treatment in another way.

4. Kiesha told us why she prefers to do intakes over being a permanent counselor. Why do you like being a permanent counselor?
It’s wonderful the way you can see how the client is making improvements in their own recovery. There are some clients, of course, who can’t make any improvement during their treatment, but it’s good when you see them coming back and trying to do something different. For example, people who are changing the thoughts they used to have at the beginning, who were not engaged in the program and recovery. When they are administratively discharged and they come back, they have another attitude. They are thinking about how to improve the kind of life they have, and especially to be a better person.

5. Tell us your favorite client success story.
I had a client who refused to have treatment at the beginning, and he tried his best, [but] eventually he was discharged. A couple of months later, I received a phone call from him, giving thanks. He mentioned that, thanks to all the advice I gave him, he was able to start doing something better. He continued at another treatment facility -- he’s no longer at BCI -- but at this point, he’s doing something different. He’s doing something for good.

5 Questions for Kiesha Wright, Intake Counselor

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Kiesha Wright
Job: Intake Counselor, Lancaster Center
Time with BCI: 1 year

1. How is the economic downturn affecting your clientele and how you do your job?
I’m an intake counselor, which means that I see people when they come straight from the streets. A lot of our clients that are coming in right now are very, very needy. When I say needy, I mean housing, food, clothes. Because the economy is so bad, a lot of [counseling] time is being taken up with things that people need immediately. So that definitely puts a strain on what I do. Because we’re therapeutic. A lot of that therapeutic aspect is being taken out. If we can help them with food, and things like that, we’re supposed to. But it’s not supposed to be our primary job. My whole session shouldn’t be on helping the client get food, housing, and clothes.

And that’s why we have case managers now. What we do now is try to coordinate with their case manager, who does handle Medicaid, food, housing, clothes, and other necessary resources, so that we can do the therapeutic aspect of counseling.

2. As an intake counselor, you see clients on a temporary basis until they’re stabilized, but you don’t follow them through treatment. What’s the appeal and the challenge of working in intake?
It depends on how much you want to be involved with the client, and how far you want to follow them. Intake works for me, because I don’t only get to see the end result. When they move up [to a permanent counselor] they’re supposed to be stabilized, [and if I’m the new counselor] I don’t see anything that they went through to get there. I’m the type of person that wants to see the client through all of those steps. Once they are stabilized, I want to pass them on to somebody who’s maybe a little bit more experienced, somebody who will follow them the rest of the way. Not everybody gets stable before they go upstairs, but in an ideal situation, I would take them through all the beginning stages, get them 30 days clean, and then they would go upstairs to Core.

My biggest challenge in doing my job is not to take it personal, not to take it home with me. If I’m working with someone and they get 30 days clean, and they relapse, I can’t take that as if they relapsed because of me. I have to also be understanding. They’re going through different stressors than I am. And, not to take it home with me.

3. Many of our staff express their personality in how they decorate their office – tell us what you have in your office.
I have a big poster of a waterfall, and the water’s green and the sky’s blue, and this is what I use to escape when I’m having a very, very stressful day. I also have a lot of sayings. “Life is about making mistakes and learning from them.” “Make an effort, not an excuse.” And, “You can’t change your past. You can change your future.” I have other little thoughts for the day. I have a little plant that one of the girls gave me that left, that I’m trying to keep alive.

When I got here, I got the office painted. I wanted it to be really bright, because I wanted people to walk in my office and just, like, cheer up! Even if they were sad! Unfortunately, I was told that I couldn’t make it as bright as I wanted to. (Laughs) So I settled for orange. So, when people walk in my office, I want them to be, first of all, surprised by the color – like, “Oh, that’s a bright color,” and open up their eyes. And I just want them to feel comfortable. I try not to have anything that’s intimidating to people, or anything that’s going to offend anyone. I also have the regular things, too, some NA schedules, some diagnosis charts. I have some of Habib’s decorations, so he has a little touch in my office too.

4. What’s been your most rewarding moment at BCI?
When somebody reaches 90 days clean time [and earns take home medication], and the reaction that they give you. And you’ve seen that person struggle, you’ve seen that person from intake - which is why I like intake - you’ve seen that person come in and say, “I’m not gonna make it, but, this is what I have to do, to maybe stay off the streets.” And they actually get to 90 days, and you see the reaction that they give you. That’s a big reward. I actually have two clients that just reached their 90 days.

I have a client who transferred to us from Kirkwood Detox. She came in and she was like, “You know what, Kiesha, I’m gonna stay with my mom. She’s gonna kick me out, I’m still using, the hardest part for me is to get to 90 days. I can’t get to 90 days, I won’t make it to 90 days, but I’m gonna try.” Her son’s father took custody of the child, so she was upset about that. She wasn’t employed, she had psych issues, and she was just all over the place. Well, I just recently saw her for our third or fourth session, and she now has four months clean. She’s going to court for a custody hearing. She’s very hopeful that she’s going to get custody back of her son. I’ve even met her son. She got a job, so therefore, she’s paying for her own medication. Things are going better between her and her mom, because her mom’s not financially supporting her.

So that actually made me feel happy. She came in recently, and she was like, “I just want to thank you for sticking it out with me, ‘cause you could’ve just gave up on me. And that’s what I thought you counselors did, you just pushed people through.” So, that made me feel good. It made my heart smile a little bit.

5. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCI what would you do with it?
I would update the computers, because we’re going paperless now, and I had a couple clients where I couldn’t do their intake, or couldn’t complete it. I keep getting the error message, “No Token.” So I would update the computers, definitely, because that’s a big, big, big part of it. And… oh yeah! I would put it into having our own food closet for people that are not in NSAFE or Safety Net, so it’s not like we’ve got to send clients out to get food. We’d have the food here. Of course, I guess, we’d have to build another room for it. So I’d build the room! (Laughs) And have the food in there, and also a clothes closet. So the computers, a food closet, and a clothes closet within BCI! That way it makes it easier for everybody. That’s what I would do.

5 Questions for Luther Whiting, Director of Human Resources

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Luther Whiting
Job: Director of Human Resources
Time with BCI: 5 years

1. You’ve kept HR running smoothly despite being relocated to the basement of Lancaster during the renovations to the Outreach Center. Tell us about your job and what you enjoy about it.
I’m responsible for making sure all of our employees get paid on time, get benefits, have all their paperwork in place, understand our policies and procedures. I kind of take care of the employees from the human relations side of it, but also give support to management to make sure that the policies and procedures are valid, that we abide by the laws and criteria, and that we get the best benefits for our employees. So, I work both sides and have to stay in the middle.

There are people here that are really, really good people, and every day [you] see them doing something that you go, “Wow, that’s really neat!” I don’t know if I can really put that in words. I’ve enjoyed being here with Brenda. She’s been fun to be down here with. I miss my office -- but I think in any environment, any job, there are certain people that you become attached to, not so much because you’re friends of theirs, but because you have a lot of respect for what they do, and how they do it. And I have a few people that I really, really find to be just, so pleasant to me, because they really like what they do, they do it as well as they can, and they rarely, if ever, complain.

2. Why did you decide to work in the addiction treatment field?
I never thought I would. The decision was based on seeing something different in healthcare -- because that’s where I’d been -- something that was new. With my interview with Sally [Allshouse, Executive Director], I liked what she said, and I liked what little I saw at the time. I just thought it would be a nice opportunity and a nice challenge. I had pretty much said, “I’m gonna give it 5 years.” I think it’s been everything that I’ve wanted it to be. And I live in Baltimore, so to drive the hour and 20 minutes, hour and a half a day, and feel like coming to work every day, is really important to me! And maybe there have been a few times when I haven’t felt well, I didn’t feel like coming to work, but I really feel like coming to work every day!

And I know a lot more about substance abuse than I ever thought I’d know. I have a lot of respect for what the people in this company, and this company, does, and the results. I don’t know that my initial impression was that I would like it as much as I do, but I’m glad I made the decision. And from my perspective it’s worked out.

I’ve had my moments when it hasn’t been a fun place, we all do. This has been a fun place to work. This has been a good place to work. And I can tell you that, when I hit my 5 year point, I started thinking, 4 or 5 months before that, and said, “Y’know, do you really want to keep driving an hour and 20 minutes?” And the answer I gave myself was, “Why not? You’re having fun. You’re enjoying this.”

3. What advice do you have for someone who would like to do the job you do?
Develop thick skin. Have a tremendous amount of respect for people, and what they are capable of doing, not what they do. Like yourself. Don’t expect anyone to like you every single day. Because one day, they like you, ‘cause you’re gonna tell them yes to everything they ask you. The next day, they’re not gonna like you, because you’re gonna tell them no! But, respect the fact that those people, if they come back and ask you another question, they respect you. And I think that’s what’s important.

I think to do the job the right way, so that employees respect you, you have to subjugate yourself to the fact that you are a facilitator, and someone that is here to help people, and that your personal views, however strong they may be, need to be left at home. When you make judgments about people, and what they look like, what they sound like, all those little things that we are trained as we get older and older to do, to make decisions on whether we like somebody or not, that’s not something I believe that you can, or should, do in Human Resources.

4. Do you have any opportunity to work with BCI’s clients?
I’ve really enjoyed my contact with the clients while I’ve been in my temporary location. In one of my previous jobs, I was administrator over at a childcare center. And, I just recently had a grandbaby. And I really like to see the children in the Bridge group and how they interact with each other, and watch them grow, and how excited they can be. That’s been kind of fun for me.

A couple of their mothers are looking for jobs, so sometimes they’ll ask me, “How would you approach this type of thing?” That, I like, because it’s touching on a young person’s life in some way, that will allow them to hopefully grow up to be a valid member of society. I’ve really, really enjoyed that part of it.

Last year, a client’s grandson was going for an interview. And it was just easy for me to sit down at my computer and say, “Here’s who you contact, who’ll give you all these directions.” And when she came back, she was like, “Wow! You made it so easy for me, because the school gave us everything we wanted, how far we should stay from the hotel, so we could do this interview, it was within walking distance, it was a pretty day, we got to see Boston…” And I don’t know if those are things I’m supposed to do, but those are things I do because it’s easier for me. I’ve been dealing with educational things a long time.

5. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCI, what would you do with it?
I would take this basement, and do some extra work in it for air conditioning and heat and comfort, because I believe I have learned a lot about the person who works down here, and although it’s much, much, much better than it was, I think she probably deserves a little bit nicer area, to be honest with you. I mean, I could say, “I’d love to donate it to the childcare center.” Y’know, it’s cold now, and it’s damp, and sometimes moist. I would donate it to spruce up Brenda’s area and make it a little more livable on a regular basis.

5 Questions for Carla Woods-Ashley, Billing Technician

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Carla Woods-Ashley
Job: Billing Technician
Time with BCI: 10 years

1. Tell us what you do at BCI.
I’m a billing technician. I take the services that the Medicaid clients have performed, and I bill them to the insurance companies, so that we can get reimbursed for payment. Each day is different. During the first couple weeks of the month, the volume is really high, because we’re always billing a month behind. So by the time we get all those bills, we’re usually in the second or third week of the month. Then around the third week, it starts to slow down. Then we’re starting to get ready for the next month at the end of the month.

Sometimes the volume of it can be really large, especially when a lot of new clients are coming in, or based on different changes the insurance may make. If they change anything, that affects how we are able to bill, so that can be a little tedious. We have to be mindful of codes, and making sure it’s the right provider that’s doing the services. You have to be very mindful of details, and understanding the various aspects of the different insurance companies, because most times, no two insurances are the same as far as the way they want things billed. So you have to really be able to grasp and understand what you can bill for and what you can’t.

2. Why did you decide to work in the addiction treatment field?
My background is in psych mental health. I worked for over twenty years for a mental health MRMH facility. After working there full time for years, I was looking for a change, and I started counseling women at a drug and alcohol facility for women. And I enjoyed it, but I still wanted another change. So with the understanding of how the addiction works, I got into the billing aspect of the field.

3. You can tell a lot about a person from their office. Tell us what you have in your office.
I try to surround myself with positive thoughts, Godly thoughts that will encourage me, and surround it with my family and friends.

4. You mentioned your work can be tedious, so what makes it worthwhile?
When it gets done! At end of the day, when it’s done, and you know that, “Okay, I got through that,” that’s a good thing.

When I look at what I do, we don’t have a lot of interaction with the clients. Our contact with them is very minimal [except] on occasions when there’s a problem with their insurance, if they’ve lost it, and they in turn have to pay. I recently talked with a client. She had called me and she was really upset about it. So to be able to talk to them, to try and help them to resolve it. Or sometimes, they’ll worry about things that haven’t happened. So when I can reassure them, and let them know that you can work towards whatever it is you have to do. Showing them that no matter what’s going on with them, they can get through it. Or somebody’s just calling wanting to know where they need to go in order to get treatment, I can direct them in the right direction. That makes me feel good.

5. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCI what would you do with it?
If I had a particular area that I would want them to focus on, it would be the women and children. Because the need, especially with the children, I think is a great one. And whatever they can do in that area, in order to help the women to be more successful in their recovery, then that’s what I would want it to be focused on.

5 Questions for Darlene Pezzullo, Nurse

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Darlene Pezzullo
Job: Nurse, Newark Center
Time with BCI: 4 years

1. How did you get started in the field of addiction treatment?
I have been a nurse for 37 years. The first few years I worked in the Medical Surgical Department of a Hospital and then a Geriatric Rehabilitation Center as a Treatment nurse. Then the next 20 years were spent as a Case Manager for USHC, AETNA and Cigna Medical Insurance Companies. I had spent so many years behind a desk working in an office, I felt that I had lost the one on one contact with clients. I missed that. Don't get me wrong, I loved nursing no matter how I could care for my patients, but I truly missed the hands-on aspect of nursing.

In 1998 my husband and I relocated to Delaware from Northern New Jersey. I landed a job at Upper Bay Services and Counseling, I worked in the Sunrise program, which was responsible for the direct care of clients being discharged from long term psychiatric facilities and reintroduced to society. This program allowed me to get directly involved with patient care again. After 3 years, the program closed down and I took a job with Northeast Treatment Center’s Kirkwood Detox. This facility offers a short term, inpatient detox program for alcohol and drugs. This was my first taste of the addiction field.

One of the part-time nurses I worked with at Detox was Ena Dryden, a full-time nurse at BCI Lancaster site. She informed me that a new facility of BCI would be opening down at the Riverfront for opiate addiction. We discussed the methadone program and what Brandywine had to offer in services to opiate dependent clients, and I was extremely interested, so I was eager to interview for the position. And, here I am 4.5 years later, happy, content, loving my job, my co-workers and the wonderful relaxed atmosphere of the Newark site.

The typical day at the clinic starts around 4:30 in the morning, getting the dispensing pumps ready with methadone, preparing the clinic for new intakes, preparing the exam room for yearly physicals. The nurses observe urines for drug screens scheduled for the clinic as well as the Drug Diversion Program. We offer Suboxone, and alternative choices for clients for opioid treatment. Our department is responsible for keeping accurate medical records on our clients. I assist Dr. Glick with his appointments of clients who see him for continued prescriptions of psychotropic medications.

I think I have a very good open relationship with my clients. I greet them in the morning with a smile, ask them how they’re feeling, and what’s going on with them in their daily lives. I remind the clients of the positive choice they have made by facing their addiction, and taking the right action to better themselves and their families. And that there is "Always Light at the End of their Tunnel."

2. What would people be surprised to know about your job?
That methadone really does work! Through education, counseling and taking methadone, we have seen clients be able to regain their life back, employment, and a happy home.

We are a staff of dedicated, compassionate nurses and counselors who come to work every single day and face our clients with a smile. We watch some succeed in the program, move on to the 30-day program, or no longer need our services. We have done our jobs! But, for the ones who fail, we are here to pick them back up with a smile, and without judgment. They’re no different than we are. Everyone has a story of how their addiction was started and OUR job is to listen and offer the best services and help we can give. I would encourage any nurse with an interest in the Drug and Alcohol field to come and look at the methadone program. These are people just like us. They have their own problems. We’re not here to solve them, we’re here to help them as much as we can, through education.

3. The Newark site had a 25% increase this year in number of clients who had stayed in opioid treatment for one year or more. What do you think is the reason for this?
Dedication of the Newark Staff! We have wonderful, caring, compassionate nurses, concerned and well-educated counselors and a clinic which offers treatment with a smile. Why wouldn't a client want to come our clinic? We care. We offer methadone, counseling, psychiatric treatment and medical care, all wrapped up in one. We are a well-rounded treatment facility. We have made our clients feel comfortable and safe. This type of caring from our staff has allowed us to be the BEST in the industry.

4. Many of our staff express their personality in how they decorate their office – tell us what you have at your work station.
I’m a big New York Giants fan. I’m from northern New Jersey, I grew up right outside the Meadowlands. I have a NYG coffee mug and I hang up newspaper clippings of NYG game highlights, if I can get away with it! With almost every man that walks up to my dispensing window during the football season, we can talk about the teams, players and standings! And I think, they think that’s kind of neat.

I am also known to have holiday decorations in my window, beanie babies, Easter bunnies, St. Patty's pot of gold, Xmas tree, but the best of all is my four stuffed Dwarves named Grumpy, Doc, Dopey, and Sleepy. My office space isn't that big (it's a dispensing window area), but what I have definitely entertains the children while their parents are getting medicated. I like to think I put a smile on everyone's face and it makes their day brighter! "

5. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCI what would you do with it?
I would use the money for a salary for a Prenatal Counselor and/or Case Manager at the Newark site. We have had many young women deliver babies this past year, and they struggled during and after delivery with being on their own, abandoned by their husband, boyfriend, loss of housing, insecurities, mental issues, and facing their own addiction, and difficulty understanding the withdrawal process of their newborn. Our facility could use the education and expertise to help educate and direct these young women. There are many new fathers as well, who could use help with understanding the complete role of parenting. With the addition of a prenatal counselor, it would allow our team at Newark to be versatile and well rounded in all phases of care with our clients.

5 Questions for Tanyel Johnson, Counselor

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Tanyel Johnson
Job: Counselor, Alpha Drug Free Program
Time with BCI: 4 years

1. Tell us what you do at BCI.
I provide encouragement for clients who are coming through the disease of addiction, who are addressing their issues - for whatever the reason, whether they were coerced or if they are self-referred here. I offer feedback for clients, pointing out discrepancies about things that they say. I provide referrals for clients who are in need of other resources than what I can provide here at Brandywine, like clothes closet referrals, mental health referrals.

I also listen. That’s a big part of my job. Listening, and hearing things that clients are saying without saying. Watching for body language, watching for any problems with the ability to communicate, because a lot of our clients are not capable of articulating specific needs. Showing genuine congruence. I think because I am in recovery, I can feel the pain that a lot of people go through. Because the disease of addiction, it doesn’t discriminate. It tears families apart. It destroys people’s very soul.

2. What can I expect if I come to your group?
I run the Women’s Education Group, which is held on Tuesdays at 10. And I gotta put a plug in for Brandywine! They worked with me, because I go to school now, and so they adjusted the schedule of the group. So now it runs Tuesdays at 10:00. And then I run the Relapse Prevention Group Tuesday night at 5:30 to 7.

For my Women’s Group, I provide salads. We do a mix-up, because I know a lot of our clients are strained when it comes to nutritional issues. So, trying to make sure that a little filling happens on Tuesday at 10:00, that’s a big difference. It started because I was trying to breathe life into the Women’s Group, trying to increase my population. When you mention food, folks show up. And it just works. I am open to my women bringing their toddlers, their young folks to the group, because babysitting is an issue for women. And a lot of times, they bring their children in and they eat, and that’s always a win-win. [And] my population did increase. So, it worked.

I also have a small clothes closet in my office that is available for my ladies, when they express, “Y’know, I need a shirt.” “Well, c’mon. Let’s go in my office and look and see.”

3. Why did you decide to work in addiction treatment?
It was an assignment by my Creator. Actually I’ve been preparing for this role all my life. So when it came to pass that I needed to make the change in my life, I evaluated what I had, and how I could continue my life on a positive note, and drug addiction counseling was it. I realized I needed to go back to school as a part of this, because just wanting to do it wasn’t enough. I needed to improve academically, how to write a sentence, how to speak. It took me going back to school. I did that. I got my Associates degree.

And as I journeyed, I realized more and more that this was something I really wanted to do. Especially with women, knowing all of the issues that I personally went through as I began my journey of sobriety. I was faced with things like, how do you get a job when you have a police record? And when you have been marked “unsuitable” for so many years, how do you build self esteem?

So my own journey needed to play itself out in other people’s lives, not to change anyone, but to show that it can be done. You can do it if you work hard, if you open up and let the information in, and know that it’s not about you anyway, it’s about helping another person. And watching families be destroyed made me closer to this issue. So that’s why I stay and why I do it. I feel it.

4. Tell us your favorite client success story.
A female came to me as a referral from Gateway Foundation. She had already done six months [of residential treatment], and we were her aftercare, and we were tying her into the next piece, which was housing. She needed to get a support system, and she needed to get a place to live. She named everything that she wanted when she walked in our door, and piece by piece, she accomplished each one of them.

She now is in a place of her own, she has a new renovated apartment, she now is chairing her home NA group. She is employed full time on her job. She is going to community college. I’m a big advocate for going back. When my clients come in, one of the first things I suggest is community college, and this client followed up with it.

So, all of the things that she came in this door saying that she wanted to do, she’s done each one of them. She was successfully discharged recently, and has been asked to speak at various places on what recovery has done for her. I think that was a big success story.

5. You can tell a lot about a person from their office. Tell us what you have in your office.
As you see over here: “Live, laugh, and love.” “Dream, believe, and discover,” are my philosophies. I also say, “How do you change? By being honest, open-minded, and willingness.” And I put these on the wall so that my clients, when they come in and do a survey, they’ll get a feel of who I am.

Then over on this side, are my accomplishments, because these are the degrees that I’ve afforded myself, because of hard work, because of some sacrifices that I had to make, and I like to put this on display. When I got my CADC [Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor], it was Lynn Fahey and Mark Lanyon and Luther [Whiting] who prepped me for my orals. And I had failed my orals. It was simple enough, but I kept stumbling through it. So when they took charge, giving me a mock audience, and the feedback that actually pushed me where I needed to go, I think that was my shining moment. When I finally passed the orals and became CADC, I had proven to my colleagues, my peers, that I was qualified to become a drug and alcohol counselor.

Then, the center of my life is my Heavenly Father. And of course I believe in recovery and sobriety, which is posted there. And “New Life.” It’s about nature. If we pay more attention to how nature replenishes itself, then I think we would get a feel of what we need to do for each other. It’s important to remember, to continue to encourage, assist, detach, and stay healthy. So that’s why my office looks like it looks.

5 Questions for Marty Nagy, Counselor

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Marty Nagy
Job: Counselor, Drug Court Diversion Program
Time with BCI: 6 years

1. Tell us about your job and what brought you to BCI.
I work in the Court of Common Pleas Drug Diversion. Basically, it’s a first offenders’ education program. So I do groups three times a week, see clients individually as needed, get them back on track, and educate them on addiction. I think if we can keep an open mind, and learn to listen to the client, and have the ability to go where they are, then we can perhaps bring them to where they can be.

I wanted to give back what I was given. I’m a recovering person, and I just owe a lot to the counselor that I had when I was in rehab. She inspired me to want to do this and make a difference. I worked in Core [BCI’s methadone program] back in the 90’s, and left, and then when I came back, the Diversion Program was available. And I’ve really been grateful that I’ve had a second chance, and have enjoyed everything. It’s just been a great place.

2. What can I expect if I come to your group?
I do three education groups a week. I think my years of experience in the field [makes the group unique.] And I do have a sense of humor that I try to bring to group, and not downplay the seriousness of addictions, but bring a little levity, so that they’re not ill at ease to learn.

We have a group on marijuana. And so, I’ll open up group by saying that the first person that was clean from marijuana developed the Weed Eater, and became famous. Just goofy little stuff like that. And they laugh, and they say, “All right, c’mon now!” And then I get on with the facts. So I try to kind of catch their attention.

3. Tell us your favorite client success story.
There was one person that was able to manage their mental health needs. They saw Gordon [Pizor, our psychologist,] and they got some help through him. Then, they were able to get on some medicine through their doctor, and they were able to stay clean. They had been smoking marijuana, kind of as an adjunct. They successfully completed our program, they got a job, they got better relationships with their children, and their marriage improved. So it was pretty successful that, all the way around, things clicked once the abuse had stopped.

4. Many of our staff decorate their office with personal items. Tell us what you have in your office.
I have some educational posters. I have a picture of a natural park. I do have a couple of handouts on marijuana and some information on other agencies. And I have three cartoons that are my favorites. One is a person standing in line between alcohol and drugs, and Krispy Kreme. And they’re choosing the doughnut line. Which is good, y’know? And the other cartoon is a bunch of deer looking at the hunters and they’re commenting on how stupid they are.

5. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCI what would you do with it?
I’d like to see it go to HIV prevention and to the outreach. I just feel very strongly that, of all the many things we do, that’s sort of at my heartstrings. And I think that’s where I would like it to go, if I could give it.

5 Questions for James Harrison, Site Director

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: James Harrison
Job: Site Director, Lancaster Avenue
Time with BCI: 20 years

1. How did you get started working in the addiction treatment field?
I think mine was a unique situation. I was actually finishing up a three [year] mandatory prison term, and Kay Malone and Linda DeShields came to the Plummer Center in 1988, and at the time, the American Red Cross was providing HIV education in the prison. They had a gentleman that came in, and none of the inmates would respond to him. They were rowdy, they were disruptive. And so, the warden asked me if I would co-facilitate the group. And I agreed to it. And after his first presentation, I actually took control of the presentation.

All the inmates were extremely receptive. It was like hearing it from one of their peers. And this was a time when HIV and AIDS was at truly epidemic proportion in our city, and folks were dying within five years. And so I hollered out, “Listen up, people! I have some life-saving information!” And people were quiet. People listened. And that kind of opened the door for me to start doing some prevention education, after I was released. Of course, Kay and Linda DeShields agreed to hire me after I was released, waited five months for my release, and I’ve been here ever since.

Many people would be surprised to know that I’ve actually had a 30 year history with Brandywine. So, many folks, especially newcomers, oftentimes will not realize that I’ve spent ten years on the other side of the fence. And so, I’ve seen the changes we’ve made as an agency, particularly around process improvement and access, and just being kinder and gentler to the addict. I think what folks will not realize is that ten years as a consumer embedded an advocacy in me that will never leave. And so I carry with me, day to day, having to straddle both fences. I’m still in recovery, I will say that. I can always see the client’s view clearer in my head as I’m also trying to move our agenda, and move the agency to the next level. So when you first look at me, you don’t see the old James, and so that’s the piece that I carry with my job that many folks don’t know about.

2. What changes have you seen in your 30 years with BCI?
Part of what I’ve seen is a growing trend, that we’re seeing a younger, sicker population. And I look at all of the old-timers, for loss of a better analogy. They are the dying breed. I recall one consumer I saw yesterday, who has been with Brandywine [for] a 30 year history, is actually wheelchair bound, and blind. And that same person, I used drugs with, I hustled with, I participated in drug addict behavior with. And now this person is barely struggling to survive.

And I see on the other spectrum, young white females and young black males chronically addicted to opiates, but now struggling with HIV, mental illness, and addictions. And I think the most obvious change has been the severity of folks’ addictions and their problems, coupled with the social ills as well: increased gas prices, food, housing shortage. All those other issues, where I think years ago, folks could make it off of a year’s income of about $12,000, but now, that’s starving. And so, couple that with addiction that’s more severe in its nature, we’re seeing sicker and more violent individuals as well.

3. BCI was in the news last week because of the challenge of reaching black drug users with the needle exchange. What do you think it will take for this population to access these services?
There was a workshop I went to, years ago, that addressed this very issue. The name of it was, “Beyond Tuskegee.” And if you remember the Tuskegee experiments, blacks historically had a fear of public health systems, and the whole notion that, “This is suspect, in terms of, the government has its hands on it, and that law enforcement may use this as a vehicle to further disenfranchise us.” So getting beyond Tuskegee would say that, “No, this is not true. There’s not a great conspiracy theory around accessing needle exchange, or providing services in an outreach effort.”

I think we have to build a comfort zone for African Americans. It’s like, if they see me drink the water, then the water’s okay. But until they see it and watch me be okay, many times they won’t access. So I think the most valuable tool we’re going to have is our African American peers who currently work on the [needle exchange] van. For [drug users] to see, again for loss of a better analogy, that they too have drunk the water and the water’s okay. So there’s got to be a comfort level in saying, “You know what? Needle exchange is a good thing. It saves lives, it’s not connected to law enforcement, it’s not some sort of drug inside the syringes.” The belief that it is a good thing has to be kind of penetrated throughout the community.

And accessibility -- going into what we call the “red light district” of the city of Wilmington is challenging, especially with all the shootings. I don’t know if African Americans are truly the population who are now injecting at an alarming rate. Certainly we do have some folks injecting, but I also believe that this is a dying population as well. And more people, because of drugs being purer, are smoking and sniffing. And so, there may not be as great a need for syringes as we first thought. So I think a collective kind of effort with our Senator Margaret Rose Henry, who’s birthed this project, our community leaders, our naysayers, our people who advocate for this population, we all have to collectively come up with a strategy to keep pushing the message that the water’s okay.

4. You can tell a lot about a person from their office. Tell us what you have in your office.
My office is very eclectic. I sometimes am embarrassed about it! But I have jazz artwork here. I have New Orleans. The Nanticoke Indians, which never really got recognized during Mardi Gras, but they too decorated, and had the same kind of celebration, but never recognized. But then I also have one section that’s dedicated to family. I have pictures of my son who graduated from Villanova. I also have a collection of articles of the work we’ve done here at Brandywine, the projects where I grew up in as a kid, and articles saying, “A $10 bag of heroin approximate to the 95 exit [for] sale,” “Fewer resources spent on prevention,” and then one of Basha [Silverman] and a syringe-filled shooting gallery, which reminds me of the work that we do. And that’s in addition to the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual from Joint Commission, books around licensure, and policy and procedure manuals.

But I also have a snake to unclog many of the restrooms, and a quart of oil for some of our vehicles. And so, you can find anything from a light bulb to the 2007-2008 Delaware Psychiatric Residency program’s pictures, of which I’m also a part, doing some training with the residency. So I like to think of it as eclectic. I think there’s times when it’s more orderly than others, especially when visitors are around, but for the most part, it really depicts my work here at Brandywine. One minute I might be the janitor, one minute I am the clinical supervisor, the next minute I’m an administrative person, the next minute I am a client advocate. So it really depicts the changing roles I play.

I just recently described my job here at Brandywine to someone, and I said, “I can’t call it work, because it’s something I like to do.” Now, it just so happens I get paid for it, but even [in] absence of money, I would still be doing this type of work. So while the paycheck helps with the mortgage and the car payment and travel, absent of that I would still be doing the same thing I’m doing. So I’m fortunate and blessed that I can come and do something I was going to do anyway for the rest of my life, but get a paycheck for it.

5. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCI what would you do with it?
I think I would go to a learning institution and ask that we start a program specifically for addictions counselors to grow the work field. The major challenge is a workforce that’s declining. [BCI senior staff] will be leaving in a few years. We have a younger workforce, that I think for the most part, is not prepared for the challenges of a more sophisticated system, in terms of licensure, accreditation, and just maintaining a quality level of services.

So I would go to a Lincoln University, a Del State, or University of Delaware, and say, let’s have a name for a program specifically to grow the field. So I think that’s what I would do. While another clinic would be nice, a transitional house for recovering people would be nice, but I think if we don’t grow the field, we’re going to miss the opportunity to help people get better.